REFORM IN THE CONSERVATORY. 



291 



Fig. 12; 



seasons ; and besides^ do not rnn up against the roof in a few 

 years, like many New Holland and other greenhonse plants. 



Every conser- 

 vatory should pos- 

 sess, in proportion 

 to its size, a cer- 

 tain niunber of 

 green and grace- 

 ful plants, or those 

 distinguished by 

 some peculiar 

 beauty of habit, 

 which are ready 

 at all times for 

 fresh combina- 

 tions, and look as 

 well in mid-winter 

 as in June. These 

 are not sought for 

 by horticulturists 

 generally, but cer- 

 tain it is that 

 without them we 

 cannot succeed in 

 the successful ar- 

 rangement of a 

 conservatory at all 

 seasons without 

 great expense, or 

 even with it. 

 "What are flowers 

 unless set in the 

 graceful green 

 among which we 

 find them nestle 

 in a wild state ? 



By the selec- 

 tion of a great number of things which flower profusely — 

 so profusely as to hide the leaves in many instances, 



u 2 



Testudinaria elephantipes (Elephant's-foot plant). 



